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Chinese Venus Clam

Cyclina sinensis

  • Molluscs
  • IUCN: Not evaluated
  • Water temperature14–22 °C
  • Best monthsApril, May, and June
  • How commonOccasional
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Photo credit: (c) Kim, Hyun-tae, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Kim, Hyun-tae · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Cyclina sinensis, commonly known as Chinese venus, black clam, iron clam, and Korean cyclina clam, is a clam species in the venus clam family, Veneridae. It mostly lives in the flats on the coast of seas in East Asia, such as the Yellow Sea and the West sea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cyclina sinensis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

  • January: 5 records
  • February: 7 records
  • March: 19 records
  • April: 35 records
  • May: 23 records
  • June: 37 records
  • July: 19 records
  • August: 21 records
  • September: 9 records
  • October: 10 records
  • November: 6 records
  • December: 10 records

Depth and water temperature

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–22 °C

  • 12–14 °C: 1 records
  • 14–16 °C: 24 records
  • 16–18 °C: 0 records
  • 18–20 °C: 12 records
  • 20–22 °C: 131 records
  • 22–24 °C: 69 records

Names and classification

English
Chinese Venus Clam
Names in 3 more languages
Japanese
オキシジミ
Korean
모시조개, 가무락조개
Simplified Chinese
環文蛤, 青蛤

Other scientific names: Callista sinensis, Cyclina bombycina, Cyclina intumescens, Cyclina pectunculus, Cyprina tenuistria, Cytheraea sinensis, Venus chinensis, Venus sinensis

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

  • Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
  • Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
  • Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
  • 384 open-data records from 1922 to 2014.
  • Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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